Rain or Shine

RAIN OR SHINE is a neat little circus film directed by Frank Capra and based on a Broadway musical that ran for almost a year in 1928.

By the time this film went into production, the vogue for musicals was over, so all the songs were cut from the film (a common occurrence in 1930). Still, there was enough plot to carry the 90-minute film.

Joe Cook was the star. The long-forgotten, Cook was a major star on Broadway. His nickname was "the one-man vaudeville" because he could sing, dance, do comedy, and perform a series of juggling tricks. Cook made his film debut in a 1929 talkie short called AT THE BALLGAME.

In RAIN OR SHINE he plays the fast-talking manager of a failing circus owned by a girl (Joan Peers) who inherited it from her father. Two employees are in cahoots to ensure the circus fails so they can take it over. In a weak subplot, Peers and her boyfriend (William Collier, Jr.) attend a disastrous dinner party at his snooty parents' mansion.

Cook is front and center through most of the film as he attends to all the problems and egos under the big top. There's also a funny running gag with Cook and a local citizen (Tom Howard) and how he becomes a partner with the help of the Princess (Louise Fazenda).

The finale is quite exciting after the bank attaches the day's receipts and the performers realize they won't get paid. Cook is terrific in a series of circus tricks as he tries to put on a big-top show all by himself. Peers and Collier are OK as the young lovers, Fazenda has little to do, Howard is funny as the local, and Dave Chasen (who founded the famous restaurant) is funny as the stooge.

Thanks to TCM indeed for this oldie but goodie, scores of early sound films like this us kids ( a patient bunch) grew up on long before cable.

Early dash of Frank Capra, adding the necessary sparkle here, although legendary vaudeville star Joe Cook is a show all by himself. Joan Peers plays a young lady who inherits a circus(?) beset with a ton of problems. Joe, the circus manager, to the rescue, not without a series of goofy escapades. Cook adds many of his famous stage routines, opposite his old partner, Dick Chasen, who gave up acting to run a legendary Hollywood restaurant for decades.

I agree, the comedy schtick may remind you of WC Fields, the silly dinner party scene an inspiration to the Three Stooges, even the Marx Brothers. Interesting to make the connection. Yes, you can add Laurel & Hardy, who about a year later did a goofy circus film called THE CHIMP. It all fits, tied to Frank Capra making the most of a carnival background.

Joan Peers, incidentally, was originally a child actress in silent films. Louise Fazenda, a comedian in silents herself, plays the princess, the reason she was added to the cast. William Collier, Jr, plays Bud, later a successful movie and tv producer.

Written by actor James Gleason, who while not playing cigar chomping detectives, was a seasoned writer.

Nod to Joe Cook, whose career, unfortunately, was cut short due to Parkinsons disease. Last but not least Charles Gemora plays the gorilla, often teamed with Laurel & Hardy.

***Remastered on blu ray. Check Warner Brothers online store for dvd updates and Amazon.

It's evident this is a dated movie, but I think it is eminently watchable. Not Capra's best by any means, but a decent insight to the workings of circuses in the late 20's. A score of wonderful character actors, slapstick and physical comedy nicely blended with vaudeville routines. Yes, the dialog is fast-paced, but there are great one-liners and wholesome comedy. It's a shame the musical numbers are dealt with in the opening and closing credits rather than scored in the movie. Joe Cook is amazing as he juggles, tightrope walks, and balances his way through the movie. His dialogue is quick, tight, and funny. Most of the actors were unknown to me as an amateur film buff, but now I will look for more of their movies. The viewer can see the similarity to Wheeler and Woolsey, The Marx Brothers, Al Jolson, and other stars of early talkies. The visual reproduction is very good, with little background noise, as is the audio recording. This movie is part of a new Early Capra release with four other titles.

Joe Cook is the manager of the John T. Rainey Circus, now owned by Rainey's daughter, Joan Peers. The circus is in trouble. Despite its unvarying policy of two shows a day, it hasn't been drawing, and the fast-talking Cook spends much of his time sweet-talking everyone.

Frank Capra's early talkie is the movie version of the successful Broadway show that starred Cook and showed off not only his verbal skills, but offered him doing some acrobatic and juggling tricks. It features second and third bananas in Tom Howard and Dave Chasen (who offers a Harpo-like performance), and appearances by Louise Fazenda, William Collier Jr., Clarence Muse, and Charles Gemora in a gorilla suit.

It also has none of the songs of the show, although the hit "Rain or Shine" shows up in the score. Its pacing still shows a lot of the original show, and it all ends with the circus's audience rioting amidst a spectacularly shot fire sequence. But even the elephants are given short shrift, and it's Cook and his stooges 90% of the time.

Cook only made a few more movies, favoring Broadway and vaudeville until he was diagnosed with Parkinson's in 1941. He retired from show business and died in 1959 at the age of 69.

RAIN OR SHINE (Columbia, 1930) directed by Frank R. Capra, is not a movie about the weather bureau in a radio station. It's a circus story based on the 1928 Broadway musical featuring Joe Cook, Tom Howard and David Chasen reprising their original stage roles. No songs from the play were carried into this production, though the popular underscoring to "Singin' in the Rain" is used during its opening credits and exit music. With the exception of the director, the leading players here mean little or nothing to film scholars. According to sources, Joe Cook was a popular vaudeville headliner and Broadway entertainer in the 1920s who later found fame on radio. With this being his feature movie debut, followed by five comedy shorts, his second and final feature film role was as ARIZONA MAHONEY (Paramount, 1936), which is just as obscure as RAIN OR SHINE itself. For being Capra's only direction with a circus theme, it presents itself as a series comedy skits thrown together making this 90-minute production more pleasing than its limited plot development.

The story introduces Mary Rainey (Joan Peers) of the John T. Rainey Shows, who's inherited her late father's circus attraction. Having run the circus for thirty years to great success, Mary struggles after only one season avoiding bill collectors and having her troupe work without salary. Mary is loved by the smooth talking "Smiley" Johnson (Joe Cook) but her real interest is Bud Conway (William Collier Jr.), a new member of the troupe. With the circus heading towards the next town of Shrewsberry with performances going on rain or shine, Mary is not only faced in getting to meet and accepted by Bud's wealthy parents (Edward Martindel and Nella Walker) holding a high society function but falling victim of ringmaster Dalton (Alan Roscoe) and lion tamer Foltz (Adolph Milnar), a lion tamer, scheming to take over the circus by causing it to fail.

Regardless of its assortment of circus types, RAIN OR SHINE very much belongs to one-man show named Joe Cook. His comic support of Tom Howard (Amos), with derby and horn-rim glasses, makes one immediately think of Robert Woolsey from the Wheeler and Woolsey comedy team for RKO Radio (1929-1937). For anyone who's missed reading or overlook the opening credits might very much believe the Amos character is played by Robert Woolsey. David Chason (Dave) with the wavy hair, makes one think of Harpo Marx. Though very much silent as Harpo, Chason does speak some lines as well as taking part of the Cook and Howard exchanges. Has this been a Marx Brothers comedy, chances are Groucho, Harpo, Chico and Zeppo might have inherited roles enacted by Cook, Chasen, Howard and Collier Jr.

RAIN OR SHINE has its moments where comedy bits are concerned. There's little of the Capra trademark that would later make him famous. Regardless of some hits and misses, it's an agreeable production to watch, rain or shine. (Scene where Cook acting as a one-man circus performer with juggling act captured from all different camera angles ranks one of its highlights). Though Louise Fazenda, a major comedienne of comedy shorts and feature films mostly for Warner Brothers, has limited scenes, could have been a victim of tight editing in favor or Cook's verbal talents.

Formerly shown on American Movie Classics (1997-1998) and presented more frequently on Turner Classic Movies since 1994, RAIN OR SHINE which cannot compare to other circus movies as Cecil B. De Mille's THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH (Paramount, 1952), is very atypical Capra which may be one the reasons it's seldom revived or discussed among other of his latter and finer classics. (***)